The Heart of a Ninja
by Omega Overlord
Summary: Modern day. Taki is a sucessful spy and killer for hire. But when she bites off more than she can chew how will a certain samurai help her out?


Disclaimer; I do not own any characters of Soul Calibur mentioned within.

Taki, international espionage and assassin, lay on the beach in Honduras. Her last job had netted her a nice three million. With that money she planned on taking a well earned break from the whole getting shot at business. Her last job had been to infiltrate a Chinese terror cell and extract all the useful information. As luck would have it said information had been secreted within a vault surrounded by guards twenty-four seven. It was one of those guards that had tripped the alarm as she was leaving. She hadn't actually been hit, but she still didn't like the idea that at any second her life could end in a flash of pain.

So she lay there in her red two piece (only about half again as provocative as what she wore when she was working) drawing eyes of admiration from the men, and glares of envy from the women (it is such a curse to be beautiful she thought with a chuckle) when her cell starts to ring.

She snatches the phone, "Figures, just when I try to have some fun work has to rear its ugly head."

She snaps into the phone, "WHAT!?! I'm on vacation if you didn't hear!"

A smooth shadowy voice is on the other end, "I understand that. I have an offer that just might change your mind however. My corporation is willing to pay you quite handsomely if you go to Tokyo and gather information from a rival company on a "project NIGHTMARE"."

The voice was too calm… too cultured…

Cautiously she put a small amount of interest in her voice, "This had better be worth it… how much are you offering?"

The voice replies, "Hmm hmm, right to the point I see. How does one billion sound?"

She shot right up causing her chest to swing a bit too much (the men, even the married ones, were practically drooling at the moment). One billion… with that much pay she could retire and live like a queen for the rest of her life…

Cold and amused the man speaks, "I take your stunned silence for acceptance then. The instructions will be arriving now."

True to the words of the man on the phone a metal box fell out of the sky and landed less than foot away. She opened it… a manila folder (why is it always manila?) contained her flight out from Honduras along with a room already booked at a small hotel in Tokyo. This was downright scary… of course… if they had all along intended offering her one billion for one job they really would have everything planned out. With this thought in mind she gathered up her belongings and left the beach, unconcerned with the numerous people watching her leave. Had she been paying attention however she would have noticed the man in the Hawaiian shirt get up and follow her while holding his hand to his ear.

At the air port Taki worked her way around the metal detectors to the secure hanger in the way back of beyond. A pair of hugely muscled men with MP5's held loosely and… knives?!? She almost laughed, but… if these were the people she was working for it just wasn't worth it to make them angry. If they weren't… that was what her pistols were for. Her beloved Rekki-maru and Mekki-maru… an assassin's best friends, silent and deadly, just like her.

The big one on the left spoke up first, "You are the operative???"

She smirked, "I get that a lot. It's not easy being taken seriously when your 80 centimeter chest distracts even the muggers." (P.S. to readers this is pure speculation)

Big number two stepped aside and gestured into the plane, "we are ready to depart, we only wait for you."

She brushed by the both of them and popped her hip at the top just to mock them. She could practically taste the envy radiating off of the both them. The knowledge that their bosses would rather hire a girl over them. She didn't care, she was better than them and that was the flat truth. In fact she was better than every man she had ever met. She couldn't even remember the last time she had been remotely interested in any man as it turned out…

The plane landed about thirteen hours later at a small airport outside of Tokyo. As she preferred there was a stylish black street bike waiting for her. She had a friend in the downtown area that preferred to be called 'the wind'. She knew the girl's real name was Talim but she humored the kid because the little girl could find and 'acquire' anything with her childish innocence and cherub face. She met the kid in a small flat that Talim owned.

She walked in without knocking, as usual, "Talim!?! We have work to do!"

There was a lot of rustling from the back room and Talim came out wrapped in a sheet, "Taki? Now really isn't a good time…"

She glared at Talim, "It's that boy you told me about over the phone, Yun-Seong, isn't it? What did he say to get in here? That he was being chased? That you were the only one for him?"

She started to brush her way by in order to beat some sense into the young man but Talim stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, "relax Taki, I invited him in, and I like him. You really need to ease up on the men Taki; seriously, you've had issues with every boy I've ever dated. You're not my mother."

The slightest hint of a blush crept into her cheeks, "whatever… you want to waste your time with the men you can. On to why I'm here, you think you could take some time out of your busy relationship to acquire my regular infiltration package?"

Talim gathered up the sheet, "I already did, it's in the kitchen, along with some dinner because I _know_ that you won't stop for food at any other time."

She scowls at the younger woman, "now who is acting like someone's mother? Goodbye."

Talim slips back through the curtain with some hasty words thrown over the shoulder, "Bye to you to sourpuss. Lighten up would you?"

She stalked angrily into the kitchen and started sorting through the package Talim had left. C4, thermal tape, fiber-optic cable, grapple line, 10 gigabyte USB drive… all there.

She inhaled the simple dinner of sushi and rice without tasting it (a testament to how irritated she was) and left by slamming the door on her way out.

Taki drove south through Tokyo to the company she was to infiltrate, Soul Enterprise. They did everything from airliners to nanotechnology, including (according to her papers) a not so small bio-weapon division. This latter category was where project NIGHTMARE was located. It was supposed to be the "next step in human evolution".

As she drove she tried very hard to stay angry about Talim's latest relationship. Slowly however the anger was subverted by… emptiness. She wasn't angry at her friend for poor taste in men. Quite the opposite actually, she envied the younger woman's many relationships. Each seemingly fairytale until Talim left the guy hanging for some random reason or the other. This Yun-Seong… Talim had carried on for hours over the phone about this one guy… something Talim had never done before. If she liked the boy enough she would have a ring on her finger by the time the year got out. What Talim wanted Talim got, it was that dammed cherub face… As much as she disdained men for being inferior to her skill she still wanted… needed… someone…

She arrived at Soul Enterprise and put her feelings under lock and key (something she was very good at and her three friends pointed this out quite often). Quickly she scrapped the plan that involved entering from the roof; the building was all lit glass from top to bottom. In her black spy outfit if she scaled the walls by any means she would instantly be spotted and shot. That left her with one option, sneak in the back door taking down every guard in her way. So she slipped from shadow to shadow, like a cat, closing on the compound with every stealthy step. Several times she crept up behind an irritatingly positioned guard and broke their neck from behind and dragged them into the darkness. When she stood just outside of the light that illuminated the back doorway she was forced to pause. There was a heavily built man standing guard in full view of the entire rear compound. She shot him and the entire garrison would surround her and line her with lead. She thought for a moment… smirked and unzipped her outfit all the way down to her navel.

She stepped into the light with her top half on full display and a finger crooked invitingly, "hey big boy, wanna have some fun?"

His eyes popped out of his head, "…uh-huh…"

The instant he stepped into the shadows there was a suppressed cough and his brains splattered across the tarmac.

She smirks at the corpse as she is zipping her suit up, "come on, you can't have really thought I would be that easy."

She picked the lock and slipped inside without further incident. Once inside she followed the floor plans her client had supplied her with. The plans led her to an elevator hidden in (of all places) a broom closet. Surprisingly, it only descended for a short time until it started to rocket sideways, throwing her violently against the glass wall. The elevator lets her out about five minuets later in… wow. The place could have been a hospital it was so clean. All the equipment was connected, one way or another, to a large glass tank in the middle in which hung suspended, by unknown means, a medieval suit of armor. As she watched the tank the armor gave a violent shudder and began to move… and there was nothing inside. The eye slit of the helmet began to glow red and black vapor wafted from every joint. These vapors were promptly sucked up and out and collected in another glass chamber where some other kind of gas was added. From there… she couldn't see anything else.

A loud booming voice comes from right behind her, "well, well, a pretentious little bug has been drawn to the flame. We've been expecting you."

She turned around and was looking down the barrels of about twenty sub-machine guns. The speaker was an absolute giant of a man that dwarfed all others in the room. He wore a black tank shirt that was stretched taut over muscles that looked powerful enough to lift an elephant. The shirt read, "I break people", in large black letters over a skull. This entire panorama she took in within the half second before a fist the size of a cinder block smashed into her face and she saw no more.

She woke on a plush carpet with a large boot in the small of her back. Looking around she guessed she was in the executive office. The chair behind the desk was turned away from her.

From the chair came a familiar voice, one shadowy and calm, "how nice of you to join us here in Tokyo… and on such short notice. I would wager that you now wish you had remained in Honduras hmm?"

She struggled to look him in the eyes… and was shocked to see that one of them was golden in an otherwise dark complexion, "you hired me to infiltrate your own company? Why?!? Was this some kind of sick game???"

He steeples his hands and leans back, "on the contrary my dear, this was most certainly not a game. I knew many of my enemies would wish to stick their noses into my latest business venture. So I thought to myself, _who would they send_? The answer was, you. You are the most skilled agent on the market today. I thought it would be much easier to deal with you if I knew when you would be coming and from where."

Her mouth practically drops to the floor, "this whole thing was just a setup?!?"

He stood and walked around his desk with long lithe strides that indicated he knew how to handle himself in a fight, odd for a corporate executive, "oh no. The experiment you saw was completely real. Nightmare has been bound and we are funneling off his extra mystical power as we speak."

She scoffed, "_mystical_? As in magic? You're insane, magic doesn't exist."

He coldly grins at her, "I beg to differ with you. Asteroth, move. Tell me Taki, would I be able to do this if magic did not exist?"

He raises a hand and she starts to float in mid-air, "this is not even the half of what I will be able to accomplish once we condense the mystic power from Nightmare and combine it with the latest in cybernetics. I will push humanity down the path to godliness!"

She tried to remain defiant but a tinge of fear crept unbidden into her voice, "I still think you're crazy. Humans can't become gods."

The same cold, amused voice sinks into her head, "I almost am one as it is. I am Zasalamel and I have reincarnated more times than I can count. You are now just a pawn in my plans."

Zasalamel crosses the distance between him and her floating form in two steps and jabs his thumb into a nerve on her neck, temporarily paralyzing her.

Zasalamel turns to three of his minions, "take her across town, violate her, and shoot her. She will just be another anonymous victim. Farewell Taki, may we never meet again."

The henchmen dragged her down the stairs and threw her into a large black escalade. As she was driven Taki could only think over what she had done with her life. All the style, all the glitz, the fine wine, and other things she had done with the millions she had acquired… left her life as empty as it ever had been. She wasn't afraid to die but she didn't want to either. She was dragged unceremoniously into a dark back alley. Before they did their job the lackey's decided through unspoken words and subliminal gestures that they would torture her first. Just before they could start kicking a door opened on the side of the alley. A moment of silence fell… and was shattered by three explosions that knocked down her assailants one by one. One of them, the one that had been granted the duty of violation fell down facing her. His face was unrecognizable mush. It was like his head had spontaneously decided to explode. The culprit stood framed in the light from the street, almost as menacing as the three goons before. Yet he carried all the threat in his own form, not in the smoking gold-plated desert eagle in his hand, still pointing to where the thugs had fallen. The one comical note in the picture was the katana he carried on his hip.

The man holstered his pistol and knelt down beside her, "well, well, what have we here? I haven't had to play hero for a long time."

He had sharp, strong features with his medium length black hair tied back in a loose ponytail. He wore a simple black shirt that showed him to be in phenomenal shape, yet he wasn't huge like that Asteroth character. Just drop dead handsome…

He looks her right in the eyes, "can you stand?"

Her voice came out breathy and weak to her considerable embarrassment, "…no…"

He nods and scoops her up bridal style and carries her effortlessly out to a late model classic Harley Davidson, stuck his helmet on her head and drove off.

He drove without a care in the world. With her cradled in his arms like a child. Slowing only for the turns so as not to jostle his passenger, other than that he had the throttle through the floor, metaphorically speaking.

After the fastest twenty minuet ride of her life her rescuer pulled up to a large, rustic estate on the outskirts of Tokyo. It was like something a Japanese shogun or samurai would live in. He knocked on the door several times with his foot and a young man of slight build opened the door. This other man was dressed as you would expect a butler to be dressed so she assumed that was his job.

The man that held her spoke, "Roland is your wife in? I picked up a stray that looks like she could use a bath and some rest. I'd do it but…"

Roland takes the helmet off and smirks at her rescuer, "I understand sir. Isadora!!! Mitsurugi has brought home some company! She could use your help!"

She was not looking the way Roland's wife entered from so she could not see the other woman.

Deep and sonorous were the only words to describe the voice of Isadora, "Mitsurugi, you can leave her in the bathroom. I'll be in there in a minuet."

Mitsurugi was looking over his shoulder at the other woman, "no matter how many times I see you I still cannot believe my eyes… fine. I'll leave her in there for you to deal with."

Mitsurugi laid her in the bathtub and his hand went for the zipper.

She stuttered out a short, "W…wait!"

Mitsurugi looked her in the eye as he continued to pull on the zipper, "oh come on, it's not like you're going to be… oh… you are… I think I'll just let Isadora handle this."

What angered her the most was not the fact that he had seen just about everything. What angered her was the way he just shrugged it off. It was like he wasn't even impressed…

She thought to herself, "Wait… why would I care if I impressed him… surely it would take more than him just saving my life for me to…"

But there _was_ more… he was a samurai (only a true samurai would have the guts to wear a katana in public) which meant he had honor. He also happened to be quite handsome… She couldn't believe herself; she was acting like a teenage girl mooning over her first crush. She turned her head to where the door was now opening (the paralysis was slowly starting to wear off by now) and did a double take. Who she assumed was Isadora was walking in and she… it was somewhat easy to see why Mitsurugi wasn't impressed by her own bust. The woman starting the shower easily had at least twenty centimeters on her.

Isadora noticed her analytical glare and laughed, "I get that a lot, can you stand now?"

She still did not have the co-ordination to stand on her own yet but could stay standing without aid. She just stood there and let the water run, how could all of this have happened…?

One name slipped from her mouth, "Zasalamel…"

Somehow he would be made to pay, and not in the financial sense of the word. She got out of the shower after about fifteen minuets and struggled back into her spy outfit.

As she staggered for the front door Mitsurugi stopped her, "leaving so soon? No gratitude at all."

She shot out a foot, intending to catch him on the knee cap and put him on the ground but the samurai slipped past and around behind her, pinning her arms to her sides.

Mitsurugi whispered into her ear, "how feisty… I like you already."

About five seconds passed… and somebody blew the door. Throwing the both of them back against one of the columns that decorated the foyer. Mitsurugi dragged her behind one of the pillars and yelled, "Roland!!! Front door!!! Bring your boom stick!!!"

He then turned to her, "you know how to use one of these?" He offered her his gold-plated Desert Eagle.

She snatched it out of his hand and cocked the gun, "of course I do. What are you going to use?"

He smirks and opens a secret panel on the column, out of which he pulled two pistols, one a revolver "Death Hand" model. The other a standard Desert Eagle, "I'm touched by your concern; just make sure you keep your head in the fight."

About twenty men in black riot gear had flooded into the foyer and had taken up positions behind columns of their own.

One of them spoke with a megaphone, "Mitsurugi, turn over the spy quietly and we will spare you. Taki is armed and extremely dangerous. We have your best interests in mind."

Mitsurugi responds by ducking out of cover and putting a round from his Death Hand right in the speaker's stomach. It made a hole about the size of a dinner plate. The rest of them immediately open fire, tearing into the column with automatic fire. A door on the side bursts open and Roland rushes in wearing a bulletproof vest and a riot helmet, toting a shotgun. He promptly blasts one of the intruders before ducking behind a column of his own. She ducks out and is looking straight into the visor of one of the assailants, she grits her teeth in preparation of the pain… a large bang is heard and the attacker falls to the floor with a quarter sized hole between his eyes. She turns around and Isadora was waving to her from the balcony. A Barrett 50 cal. Rifle set over the railing. Mitsurugi dives out and rushes across the foyer to a separate column, shooting two men on his way. She ducks out and pulls off a shot at one of the men still trying to shoot the samurai. She hits him in the shoulder but the kick of the pistol astonished her. She found herself wondering how Mitsurugi had shot three different targets in less than a second with that much recoil. Her admiration of him soared to new heights. She attempts to advance and provide some support but as she was running a bullet grazed her thigh. Causing her to stumble and fall flat out in the open. She rolls over and trains Mitsurugi's pistol at where the remaining intruders were, intending to sell her life as dearly as she could… they were already dead. Mitsurugi was standing at the end of the foyer cleaning blood off of his katana. The trail of decapitated and cut-in-half bodies a testament to who had done the killing.

Roland stepped out from behind his pillar and shot one of the still breathing men trying to crawl out the door, "well… what shall I tell the decorator sir?"

Such levity was made all the more hilarious by Roland practically standing in a pool of blood.

Mitsurugi sheaths his katana, "same as always, enemies broke in and we killed them."

Roland removes his riot helmet, "I can't help but notice sir that these men work for Soul Enterprise. They wanted our guest… perhaps we should find out why?"

The samurai turns to her and grins, "Just what I was thinking Roland. How about it Taki? Why does Zasalamel want you dead?"

She struggles to her feet, "Zasalamel wants me dead because I saw his latest experiment. He has imprisoned a being called 'Nightmare' and is siphoning magical energy from him. Zasalamel plans to force humanity to evolve with magic and cybernetics."

She looks around and none of the others say anything.

Mitsurugi finally speaks up, "well then… are we going after him?"

She is shocked, "you… would do that? For me?"

He laughs, "why not? I've had plenty of fun being around you so far. What's one more life threatening situation going to hurt?"

She would have run over and kissed him right then if she couldn't control herself as well as she could, "I know just where we can get everything we need."

Roland drove the car to Talim's flat.

When she walked in with Mitsurugi Talim understandably started laughing uncontrollably, "Heishiro Mitsurugi?!? The famous samurai prize fighter? Taki I'm glad that now you have a man! Now you won't be bothering me about Yun-Seong!!!"

She rolled her eyes, "enough Talim… we need some things. Think you're up to getting them?"

Talim momentarily looked offended, "I'm appalled that you don't trust me by now Taki. I can get anything in Tokyo. I could probably even get you a nuclear bomb if you needed it."

Mitsurugi laughs, "That won't be necessary. But we do have quite the list for you regardless."

He hands Talim the list.

Talim gives the list a once over, "give me a day and all of this is yours. Yun-Seong!!! I'm going out for a while ok... He's still asleep… of course."

Talim runs out and Taki looks in the direction Talim ran, "I don't know whether to be amused or disturbed by the fact that the boy is still asleep at 3 in the afternoon… it could be that he's just lazy but… knowing Talim it could be something else entirely…"

Mitsurugi sat down on one of the futons, "was that an engagement ring on her finger?"

She sat across from him, "it could have been… it probably was. Talim is not the type to wait for things to take their natural course. She does what she feels is right even if that gets her into an embarrassing situation."

With that they waited.

About a day later, as promised, Talim returned driving a truck loaded with everything they had requested.

Talim hops out of the truck, "all there. I'm just wondering what you need all this hardware for."

Mitsurugi jumps up to the driver seat and she climbs into the passenger side, "Talim… the less you know the safer you are. When we're done we'll be back ok?"

Talim nods and runs back inside her flat.

Mitsurugi puts the truck in drive, "she's probably rushing to get to round two."

Their laughter echoed down the street a long ways.

They all set up shop about a mile south of the Soul Enterprise compound. Throughout the ride a plan had been formulated. Isadora would use her rifle (with a suppressor of course) to pick off any targets that she could without alerting the entire garrison. As a precautionary measure, Roland would stay with his wife to protect the sniper from an enemy charge. Taki and Mitsurugi would enter the compound with support fire from Isadora and a borrowed SVD Draganov (also suppressed) wielded by Roland. Taki and Mitsurugi would be running and gunning with whatever they could grab; MP5's, AK-47's… whatever they came across. All of them would be wearing full Kevlar suits. Although even in the all-black outfits it was rather easy to tell them apart. Mitsurugi had his katana on his hip. Roland had his trademark shotgun slung over his back along with his personal riot helmet. Isadora… yeah… Taki wasn't happy about playing second fiddle in the beauty department, but Isadora was the best shot on this crazy little crew, and Taki was professional enough to put aside her envy of the other woman for this last job. With a few parting words of luck and well wishes she and Mitsurugi set off into the night.

Once they were both ready Mitsurugi spoke into his mic, "ok Roland, start popping heads."

She heard through the mic, "very good sir. Isadora? Shall we?"

For about sixty seconds she held her breath for the telltale shout that would awake the entire sleeping garrison. Luck held out however, for when one of the married pair shot a guard within eyesight of another the other of the pair already was pulling the trigger and bursting the head of the second guard. They had a kind of synergy between them that was at once awe inspiring and creepy.

Roland spoke over the mic, "it is ready sir, we wait for the two of you to light the powder keg."

Mitsurugi chambered a round in his MP5, "you ready Taki?"

She nodded, "yes… and…remind me to kiss you after we get out alive."

She could almost see the smirk under his mask, "I like the way you think Taki. But save it till after we kill all of them. Now is just a tad premature."

They both climb over the wall and drop into the shadow of one of the guard towers. Taki sets a C4 charge on two of the support struts and they both creep along the perimeter of the compound doing the same to the remaining four towers.

Just before Taki hit the detonator Mitsurugi stopped her, "shh, I see opportunity."

He pointed out at the center of the yard where most of the guards were clustered around a large truck playing some kind of card game. The barrels in the back were quite clearly marked with a large, yellow flame meaning, flammable. She was rather embarrassed that she didn't notice the golden opportunity before Mitsurugi did but she rationalized that she mostly focused on stealth, not much use blowing things up if you are trying to keep unseen and unheard.

Mitsurugi shot the barrels half a second before she hit the detonator. All of Hell broke loose with explosions going on all around and two black figures spraying lead into any guard left standing. When the last of the visible guards were shot the unmistakable sound of rotor blades was heard.

Mitsurugi looked sideways at her and put his hand to the mic, "Roland, looks like we are going to need the special something we brought along. Hostile chopper coming in."

She and the samurai took cover behind separate stacks of crates and waited.

The chopper flew overhead and started to hover, tracking its machine guns across the still flaming yard. Both she and Mitsurugi ducked out and sent a couple of rounds into the chopper to get its attention. It turned to them and began chewing up the stacks and a rocket lanced out of the darkness and hit the gunship in the rotor. Simultaneously Isadora shot the pilot. The helicopter nose-dived into the center of the compound in a roaring ball of fire.

Mitsurugi kicked down the door and they both ran in ready for anything… but there was nothing to be ready for. No guards, no traps… no anything. Unconcerned she attempted to activate the elevator to the executive offices… disabled.

She hits the switch one last time and again nothing happens, "damn… guess we have to take the stairs."

Mitsurugi laughs, "What's wrong? Worried about the stairs now? How paranoid are you spies?"

She got the joke but now was not the time, "I'm concerned with having to climb 138 flights of them to get to Zasalamel's office. I don't care how much you work out, that many stairs is going to tire you out."

The samurai grins at her, "is that a challenge? I'll race you to the top."

She kicks open the door, "you're on!"

They both burst into the empty stairwell legs pumping like pistons. She was lighter than him but Mitsurugi had more muscle and longer legs so it was just about even. At flight 100 though her legs gave out and she fell flat. Mitsurugi kept going an extra ten flights before the same happened to him. She found that she didn't care that she had lost in their game. She had finally found a guy that could beat her. It felt… good. Like she finally had someone she could rely on. Of course she wouldn't admit that to anyone, even herself.

She dragged herself up ten flights to where Mitsurugi was getting his second wind, "how… about… we walk… the rest… of the way…"

The samurai was sweating bullets but still managed to keep his attitude, "well that sounds… fine."

They walked the rest of the way unconsciously leaning on each other. In the executive office the chair was once again turned to face out the window.

Both she and Mitsurugi were quite recovered, "Zasalamel, give it up! You have nowhere to run!"

The chair turns and all she sees is a giant man wearing a tank shirt that read, 'I break people'.

The giant had changed… his skin now looked to be made from stone, "well maggot, crawl back to die?"

She was frozen with disbelief, "what… what happened to you?!?"

The giant stands and picks up… an axe, "this is the power of project NIGHTMARE. Power beyond my wildest dreams!!! Now I am bulletproof, and to prove it I wield no firearms."

She empties a clip into the giant but only chips the stone.

The giant laughs manically, "I told you, bulletproof. Now I'll smash you to pieces!"

Asteroth rushes forward swinging his axe in large, sweeping motions that created a 180 degree buzz saw in front of him. She knew that getting even grazed by a swing like the ones the giant was throwing would break her in half like a twig.

She jumped onto the giant's chest and stuck the barrel of her MP5 in his mouth, "eat it freak."

She empties her last clip into Asteroth's mouth… he grabs her leg and slings her into the wall.

Asteroth bends over coughing up the flattened bullets, "_cough_, You little…"

Mitsurugi runs over and drop kicks the giant, sending Asteroth stumbling back into the window. She and Mitsurugi grabbed the sides of Zasalamel's desk and shoved it into Asteroth with every erg of strength they had. Asteroth crashes through the window and begins a long fall to the ground.

Taki crouches at the edge to watch the giant fall, "shatter, you Thing look-alike!"

Mitsurugi gives her an odd look, "you read comic books?"

She blushed, "yes… occasionally…"

In truth she had a large collection at a small house she owned in the US. She considered it her one guilty pleasure.

He smirks, "it's amazing the things you miss out on when you skip the dating phase."

Before Mitsurugi could embarrass her any more she changed the subject, "look, Zasalamel wasn't here. That means he is in the lab where he is keeping Nightmare. We have to get at him before he can escape."

As they ran down the stairs Mitsurugi spoke, "somehow I doubt that he will run Taki. He set this whole thing up to face us."

The broom closet elevator lets them out and Zasalamel is waiting for them in front of the tank containing Nightmare. He was wearing long, ceremonial robes, and holding a war scythe.

Zasalamel floated into the air into the center of a ring shaped device, "So… you have survived… I must say I congratulate you both for making it this far. But that ends here. I will absorb the power I have collected from Nightmare and finish you both."

Purple gas flowed out from nozzles set into the ring. Zasalamel breathed deeply of the gas and began to change… his skin became white as bone and grew thicker. Spikes grew from his body and his top half separated from his waist. How he was held together was a complete mystery. His weapon changed as well, growing red and scaled.

Zasalamel opened his eyes, "Now I have become a god. I think I shall take a new name. Zasalamel was the name of a human. A god should have a name that inspires fear… Abyss. That is now who I am. Fear me mortals."

Abyss dove out of the air slashing with the scythe, even more powerful than Asteroth had been, and faster. Mitsurugi attempted to block a swing with his katana but was hurled against the tank in the center. She had little choice but to flee around the lab. Barely staying out of range of Abyss's scythe.

Mitsurugi yelled from next to the tank, "Hey! Abyss! Fight someone your own strength!"

He turned and stabbed his katana into the glass tank. Puncturing all the way through the glass to the empty space around Nightmare.

Abyss's eyes widened, "you fool, you've breached the vacuum! Nightmare will free himself!"

The samurai stabs the tank in a different spot, "that was kind of the idea."

Abyss lands in front of a console and sets his scythe down. He starts franticly typing commands into the keyboard. She creeps up behind Abyss and grabs his scythe, it burns her hands but still she grips it like it was her life. She raises it over her head and swings with all her strength, driving the tip only about an inch into Abyss's back. Abyss roars in pain and backhands her across the whole lab. Abyss was not the only roaring thing in the lab. Within the tank Nightmare was smashing the glass with a huge mutated hand. Every time he struck the glass the cracks spread more, it would only take a few more blows to break out.

The glass finally shattered and Nightmare stepped down from the ruins of his prison, "now Zasalamel, you will die once and for all! I will devour your soul so you may no longer return to harass me!"

The voice that came from Nightmare was Hellish and brutal. As if to further prove his Hellish origins Nightmare extended a hand and a giant sword with an eye in the hilt formed out of flames. Once the sword was fully formed the vapors that Abyss had inhaled rushed out of Zasalamel and into the sword.

Zasalamel stood his ground before Nightmare, "you are as foolish as always. I cannot die."

Nightmare savagely swings and takes a huge chunk out of Zasalamel's scythe, "No, you can die. And you will!"

Zasalamel swings his scythe and Nightmare catches the blade in his mutated hand, snapping the blade off. Nightmare then punches Zasalamel to the ground and stabs the point of his blade into Zasalamel's golden eye. Zasalamel's corpse explodes in a huge maelstrom of mystical power. This buckles the roof of the lab letting in sea water. Apparently the lab was underwater.

Mitsurugi yells to her from by the elevator, "Taki! We need to leave, NOW!"

She tears her eyes away from the spectacle and runs as fast as she can to the lift.

They both jump inside and start to slide away. Behind them the connection tube starts to shatter. Water pouring in to the tube races at them.

She looks at Mitsurugi, "If we don't make it out…"

The samurai places his fingers over her lips, "relax… we'll make it."

She continues, "I'm just saying… if we don't make it… I'm very glad that I met you…"

She kisses him lightly on the cheek.

Mitsurugi snorts, "women… always have to test the water before jumping in."

He grabs her by the back of the head and kisses her, hard, on the lips.

This continues as they rise out of the water filling the shaft.

As they step out of the broom closet she asks, "so… now that it's official, what do we do now?"

Mitsurugi looks over at her, "I feel like taking a vacation somewhere hot and sunny. I was thinking Hawaii."

She smiles, something that hasn't happened for years, "that sounds perfect."

Off in the woods Asteroth was staggering through the brush. Furious that he had lost to those two little rats.

A large mutated hand reaches out of the darkness and grabs him by the head, "revenge is sweet."

A red blade pierces Asteroth through the chest and takes his soul.

Nightmare removes his sword from the corpse of the giant, "this world has forgotten what it is to fear me. I will remind them of what that is like. But first, I need more souls."

Nightmare strode off into the darkness, the glow of his eyes the only sign of his presence.

End


End file.
